Photographs, route descriptions and maps of Lochnagar and Conachcraig in the Eastern Highlands of Scotland

Lochnagar ( 3790ft, 1155m )

above Loch Muik

Lochnagar ( Beinn Chìochan ) is some five miles south

of the River Dee near Balmoral.

The mountain's main feature

is a north-facing corrie beneath the summit.

The mountain is popular with hillwalkers

at all times of the year.

The normal route of ascent is from Glen Muick.

Care is necessary in poor visibility as the plateau is devoid

of obvious features with cliffs on its northern edge.

Lochnagar above Loch Muik

There is a circular walk round Loch Muick

on the Balmoral Estate

providing views of the surrounding hills.

The walk includes Glas-allt Shiel House

built by Queen Victoria

with an optional detour to waterfalls.

Location: Spittal of Glen Muick
Map: OS Landranger 44 ( GR 310851 )
Distance 12miles ( 19km )
Time: 7hours
Terrain: Tracks & Paths

Lochnagar rises majestically above Royal Deeside and is one of Scotland's ﬁnest mountains. Its ascent is best started from the pay and display car park at Spinal of Glenmuick, at the end of the single track mad up Glen Muick from Ballater.
Walk along the continuation of the road which leads into the trees, then just beyond the visitor centre and the toilets take the track on the right which leads across the floor of the glen. At an outbuilding next to the house at Allt-na-giubhsaich, follow the signposted path through the woods to join another track then cross the burn by stepping stones and climb the track up the hillside.
At the highpoint of the track, drop down left and ascend a good path to reach the col between the outlying top of Meikle Pap and the main mass of the mountain. It is well worth making the short climb onto this top to view the cliffs of Lochnagar's great northern corrie.
Return to the path then climb steeply up and around a subsidiary corrie followed by another climb, then a ﬁne and airy walk along the cliffs above the main corrie. The trig point on the granite summit tor of Cac Carn Beag lies back from the cliff edge, 500m beyond the cairn on the slightly lower rise of Cac Carn Mor.
Return to Cac Cam Mor and head south-east on a path which drops into a basin then follows the course of the Glas Allt burn down a deepening valley. Cross the burn lower clown by a bridge then descend past a lovely waterfall to reach the trees above the house at Glas-allt-Shiel.
Traverse through the woods to join a track then follow this along Loch Muick to the boathouse at the end. Break off right here, crossing the end of the loch and the bridge over its outﬂow to gain the track on the other side which leads back to the start.

The vast majority of Munrobaggers tackle Lochnagar from the Spittal of Glenmuick at the end of the public road that runs up Glen Muick from
Ballater. That’s the logical route. There’s good car parking, good tracks and it’s probably the shortest route to the summit. However a quieter footpath from Glen Callater goes via the stalker’s path up Carn an t-Sagairt Mor. This is a much longer route than the others but it gives a better sense of the vastness of the great plateaux that run south from Lochnagar towards the Glenshee hills. Lochnagar is seen then
as part of a much greater whole, rather than as a single isolated hill. Unfortunately this is a long route for the short days of late winter.
A footpath that leaves the western end of Loch Callater and climbs high above the waters before swerving north-east to take a rather circuitous route around the stony ﬂanks of Carn an t-Sagairt Mor. These high, bare slopes give a wonderful sense of spaciousness, with the ground gradually falling away eastwards into the great slit trench that holds the Dubh Loch. This is an Arctic landscape, home to mountain hares, ptarmigan and snow bunting, and big snow patches, the ﬁrst of the winter, added to the area’s austerity. Crossing the burn of the Allt an Dubh-Loch that runs down from the bealach between Carn an t-Sagairt Mor and Carn an t-Sagairt Beag, the path began to climb onto the broad plateau of the White Mounth, the highest point of which, Carn a’ Choire Bhoidheach ( 1,110m ), lies just south of the path. It’s also worthwhile diverting from the path for a short distance to The Stuic, where there is a superb view down into the impressively lonely Coire Loch nan Eun.
From the high point of the path, between The Stuic and Carn a’ Choire Bhoidheach, this grand high-level promenade drops slightly, skirting the fringes of Coire Loch nan Eun before ﬁnally climbing in a north-east direction to Cac Carn Mor of Lochnagar and then north to the summit, Cac Carn Beag, a huge collection of Cyclopean granite blocks with the trig point stuck ﬁrmly on the top. Close by is a view indicator, built by the Cairngorm Club in 1924. Hills that can be seen on a clear day range from the high ground of Caithness in the north to the Cheviots in the south.
Before returning to Glen Callater, take a look down from the cliffs that fringe the north-east facing corrie of Lochnagar. This, one of the great corries of the Cairngorms, offers a complete contrast to the broad high-level slopes you’ve been walking over and gives some meaning to Lord Byron’s description of the “steep, frowning glories of Dark Lochnagar”.

Route:

There is a prominent layby at Auchallater on the A93, about 4km south of Braemar.
A Scottish Rights of Way Society sign points the direction and a track leads through a gate above the waters of the Callater Burn.
Continue on the track as it bends S into the hemmed—in glen and after some distance you’ll cross the burn by a bridge
with the slopes of Creag Phadruig rising ahead of you. After 5km, just before Callater Lodge and the loch, a footpath
leaves the track and climbs NE above the loch before bending SE at about 500m.
Follow this path as it bends again below Creag an Loch and then around the flanks of Carn an t-Sagairt Mor.
Cross the infant waters of the Allt an Dubh-loch before climbing onto the slopes of the White Mounth between The Stuic and Cam a’ Choire Bhoidheach.
Finally the path climbs towards Cac Cam Mor of Lochnagar before dipping slightly to the final slopes which lead to the great granite tor of Cac Carn
Beag and the summit.
Return the same way.

This eastern neighbour of dark Lochnagar is a Corbett ( a hill between 2500ft and 2999ft ), and an easy Corbett at that. Its
ascent shares the same popular route to Lochnagar from Allt-na-giubhsaich as far as the high point of the track that runs between the Spittal of Glenmuic and Glen Gelder. At this point the Lochnagar track, and the crowds, veer away to the west to climb up to the bealach below Meikle Pap.
The route to Conachcraig goes in the opposite direction and follows a less used path that wriggles its way up the heather and boulder slopes towards the Corbett's summit.
It’s well worthwhile crossing the broad ridge to Conachcraig’s slightly lower north summit, if only for the much better view it offers towards neighbouring Lochnagar. From the main summit you’re at too tight an angle to see much of Lochnagar, other than its rather dull Meikle Pap slopes,
but from Corlachcraig’s 850m top you get a much better view of the mountain. From here you get a glimpse into the great corrie that is such a feature of Lochnagar and the cliffs which make it one of the principal winter climbing venues in Scotland.

ROUTE PLANNER
Map: OS 1:50,000 Landranger sheet 44 ( Ballatert & Glen Clova ), Harvey's Superwalker, Cairngorms and Lochnagar
Start / Finish: Spittal of Glenmuick car park ( GR: NO308851 )
Distance: About 6 miles / 10km
Approx Time: 3-4 hours

Route:
Leave the car park and follow the track that runs towards Allt-na-giubsaich.
Take the path that is signposted to Lochnagar through the pines and once clear of the trees continue on the main
track until it reaches the high point between Glen Muick and Glen Gelder.
Leave the path to the E and follow the narrower path directly to the summit of Cotnachcraiig.
Cross the broad ridge to the 862m summit for better views of Lochnagar then return to the shallow bealach between the two southern tops.
Descend SE from the bealach down to Allt-na-giubsaich and the track back to the Spittal of Glenmuick